March 8 was International Women's Day. This year, it had a particular importance given the political climate and the misogynistic comments made by our own President Trump prior to his election while he was on the campaign trail.

This is not a political article. It isn't about President Trump. It has nothing to do with current events or affairs - as we would think of them anyway.

Rather, I want to talk about the state of female relationships in this day and age.

I posted a photo of myself on my personal Instagram account, and someone I used to be friends with commented on it asked what makeup phone app I used because she wanted to download it.

She assumed that just because I looked beautiful in my photo (my boyfriend’s words, not mine), and my makeup looked good (my own assessment of my makeup) that I had edited the photo.

Because women can’t look beautiful or have good makeup application without the photo being edited, right? (That was sarcasm).

I was quite taken aback by the comment, and I responded that it was not an editing app, rather, I just knew how to do my makeup really well, which is the truth.

I later deleted her comment and mine. Why? Because I don’t need to justify myself to anyone and I didn’t need a negative comment like that in my personal online space.

But, it got me thinking, why do women feel the need to tear other women down? Why aren’t we working to empower and support each other?

This ties into another area of my life as well.

For those of you that don’t know, I am an avid equestrian. I have been riding for over 20 years, and I’ve been competing for about two years (I was late to the horse show game).

I’ve noticed that in the equestrian sport, equestrians try to tear each other down all the time. It can be about anything – the clothing they wear, the amount of money they have, the fact that they don’t jump a certain height and thus they aren’t a “legitimate” equestrian.

I’ve been bullied and hated on by a variety of equestrians, and it had to do with my ability to afford nice clothing and equipment for my horses and my ability to afford a nice horse. I’ve also been bullied for not jumping a certain height consistently and not showing consistently on the A/AA Circuit (for those of you who aren’t equestrians, the A/AA Circuit is the largest and most prestigious circuit to show on when you’re an equestrian).

While I would love to tell all of you that I am able to just brush the bullying off and chalk it up to jealousy, it can be hard when you receive multiple hate comments a day.

I got my current show horse in 2015. Our very first show together, we ended up winning. I posted a photo of us with our ribbons on Instagram and Twitter, and I got immediate hate. I was told I looked like a troll on a horse. I was told that I looked ugly, and that I would never find a helmet that would look good on me.

I was excited about winning my division on my new horse at our very first show together, and all other equestrians, all of them females, could think about was how to make me feel bad about my accomplishment.

Bullying is a huge epidemic in this country, especially cyberbullying. According to BullyingStatistics.org, over half of adolescents and teens have been bullied online. Even worse, about the same amount have engaged in cyberbullying. According to the same site, more than 1 in 3 young people have been threatened online, and over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied on a repeated basis through the Internet or their cell phones.

And, as someone who is no longer in the adolescent or teen category, I can say that cyberbullying extends beyond that age range. There are individuals in their 20s that still engage in cyberbullying.

My own theory on this is that females enjoy the anonymity that the online space brings and feel as though they can say and do whatever they want without repercussion.

This, of course, is entirely untrue. Because of this bullying epidemic, states have put in place laws and policies that deal explicitly with cyberbullying. Additionally, if cyberbullying is reported to school officials, the school is obligated to launch an investigation into the cyberbullying accusation.

So, what does all this have to do with International Women’s Day?

It has been my own personal experience that females engage in a lot of cyberbullying. Just last week, there was an incident online regarding a fairly well-known rider that involved her being harassed and bullied in a disgusting, vile manner. She ended up having to get an attorney involved because it was that severe.

As women, we need to be supporting each other, not tearing each other down. Why is it that when we see someone who seems to have it better off than we do, we automatically move to say something negative about them? Why can’t we instead be supportive of each other? In fact, being supportive of someone who has something we want makes it more likely that we will also enjoy those same successes.

Negativity just breeds more negativity. Positivity? Well, it breeds more positivity.

I don’t have an answer to this epidemic. I wish I did. All I know is that I can do my part by lifting other women up. I can cheer on their successes, be a support system, and most importantly, stick up for other females when they are being bullied.

If you are a female who is being cyberbullied, or bullied in person, know that you aren’t alone. If you are a female that bullies others, I encourage you to take a look at your behavior and think about how it would feel if you were the person who was being bullied.

Now more than ever, we women need to stick together and support each other.

Even if it’s just you taking a step towards ending bullying and empowering other females, your efforts will create a ripple effect and inspire others to also take action.